Promise of The Rainbow / Stratton Press (ePub)

The Hansens breathed a sigh of relief when the summer after Jaden's suicide attempt had passed. Jaden had started seeing a therapist, and it seemed the worst was over.

Jaden's father, Donnie, had taken the blame for what had happened, and even though he hadn't started yet, he was also planning to go see a therapist. His wife, Alice, was thrilled, because she felt that her husband's issues in dealing with Jaden's sexual orientation should definitely be addressed.

Brandon had delighted in making his sensitive, younger brother miserable for years. He had been awful to Jaden, but, in addition, when Brandon had unknowingly taken steroids, his family and his girlfriend, Emily, hadn't fared a lot better. However, when Brandon found out that Jaden had overdosed on the pills he had found in his backpack, the turn-around Brandon had made had thrilled his family.

Jaden's twin, Jenny, also felt responsible for not cueing in on Jaden's rapid plunge into hopelessness. She had always been able to sense his moods, but the weekend of his suicide attempt, she had put him off, hurrying to go to a sleepover.

Feeling it was his fault, Jaden's best friend, Devon, was sick when he realized what a mistake he had made by turning his back on Jaden when he discovered his friend was gay, and he had sincerely apologized to his friend. In addition to mending their friendship, he had vowed to himself that he would do all he could to prevent other kids from being bullied like Jaden had been.

The new school year was set to start, and the twins, Jaden and Jenny, Devon, and Brandon would all be in high school together. The twins and Devon would be starting as freshmen, while Brandon was looking forward to having a great senior year in sports. However, would the life-shattering event that wound up shocking everyone, actually cause Brandon to give up baseball?

At the beginning of the school year when Jaden joined the swim team, he met some really nice people and was astounded to find out that not everyone who was gay struggled with it. Maybe there was hope for him, after all. Could there be a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow?